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Saturday, 5 November 2011

I was sitting with my mother and we began talking about the Day of Arafat. We have a lot of these sessions, we sit around and speak about something or another related to the Quran, Seerah... or just something to think about, our deen, spirituality, etc.

Given that today was the day of Arafat for pilgrims from around the world, we recalled the Sermon of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam. Growing up and then being in an Islamic school from 6th grade til the 9th... this was always introduced to us as 'The Universal Charter of Human Rights'.

For any person who has not for ANY reason not read it, I'd like to share it here... hoping that we gain some merit from reading and revisiting the teachings of our Aaqa Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam.

We are all sinful souls, but it is the Mercy from Allah Kareem that keeps these faults and deeds hidden and limits them to the knowledge of those whom He wills. May we all be granted an opportunity to visit Arafat, repent for our sins... and cleanse our faith to perfect it, as our Master Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam did.

"..This day have I perfected your religion for you * and completed My favour upon you, and have chosen Islam as your religion..."The Divine Words from the Noble Qur'an,
Surah Al Ma'ida 5:3
On the 8th of Dhu-al-Hijjah, the Beloved Prophet
سيدنا رسـول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وبارك وسلم left with his Companions رضوان الله تعالى عليهم أجمعين for Mina and spent the night there, and on the 9th, after the Fajr, morning prayer, He proceeded to Plains of 'Arafat where he delivered the famous sermon.

The completion of His prophetic mission implied His departure from this earthly home to the heavenly abode. The Beloved Prophet
سيدنا رسـول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وبارك وسلم
had clearly visualised it. He, therefore, decided to give the finishing touch to his massive work and imprint its salient points on the minds of his devoted followers so that they might always keep before them the system of life-values enunciated by Islam. It was with this object in view that messages were sent to all parts of Arabia inviting people to join him in this great Pilgrimage.

The sermon of the Beloved Prophet
سيدنا رسـول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وبارك وسلم
is not only remarkable for its eloquence, but it contains a sublime message for the whole of the human race. It was a declaration of Human Rights and moral values, a charter of Women Rights. The world has not been able to lay down better principles of ethics and morality than those enunciated in it. Every word of it breathes a spirit of magnanimity and aims at establishing righteousness and fair dealing among men on a workable basis. It establishes brotherhood among Muslims irrespective of the divergence of their geographical, racial and colour backgrounds and provides an outline of a social order, perfectly free from oppression and injustice. It was the declaration of Finality of Syedna Muhammad's Prophethood, the religion was being perfected by this Final Message from The Creator to his creatures for all times to come.

"All praise is due to Allah, so we praise Him, and seek His pardon and we turn to Him. We seek refuge with Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the evil consequences of our deeds. Whom Allah guides aright there is none to lead him astray; and there is none to guide him aright whom Allah leads astray. I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, the One, having no partner with Him. His is the sovereignty and to Him is due all praise. He grants life and causes death and is Powerful over everything. There is no God but Allah, the One; He fulfilled His promise and granted victory to His bondsman, and He alone routed the confederates (of the enemies of Islam).

O’ People! Listen to my words, for I do not know whether we shall ever meet again and perform Hajj after this year. O’ Ye people! Allah says, O’ people We created you from one male and one female and made you into tribes and nations, so as to be known to one another. Verily in the sight of Allah, the most honored amongst you is the one who is most God-fearing. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for the white over the black nor for the black over the white except in God-conciousness.

All mankind is the progeny of Sayyedna Adam عليه السلام and Sayyedna Adam عليه السلام was fashioned out of clay. Behold; every claim of privilage whether that of blood or property, is under my heels except that of the custody of the Holy Ka’bah and supplying of water to the pilgrims, O’ people of Quraish, don’t appear (on the Day of Judgement) with the burden of this world around your necks, whereas other people may appear (before the Lord) with the rewards of the hereafter. In that case I shall avail you naught against Allah.

Behold! All practice of the days of ignorance are now under my feet. The blood revenges of the days of ignorance are remitted. The first claim on blood I abolish is that of Ibn Rabiah bin Harith (رضى الله عنه) who was nursed in the tribe of Sa’ad and whom the Hudhayls killed. All interest and usurious dues accruing from the times of ignorance stand wiped out. And the first amount of interest that I remit is that which Sayyedna Abbas ibn Abd-al Muttalib رضى الله عنه had to receive. Verily it is remitted entirely.

O’ people! Verily yor blood, your property and your honor are sacred and inviolable until you appear before your Lord, as the sacred inviolability of this day of yours, this month of yours and this very town (of yours). Verily you will soon meet your Lord and you will be held answerable for your actions.

O’ people! Verily you have got certain rights over your women and your women have certain rights over you. It is your right upon them to honor their conjugal rights, and not to commit acts of impropriety, which if they do, you are authorised by Allah to separate them from your beds and chastise them, but not severely, and if they refrain, then clothe and feed them properly.

Behold! It is not permissible for a woman to give anything from the wealth of her husband to anyone but with his consent.

Treat the women kindly, since they are your helpers and not in a position to manage their affairs themselves. Fear Allah concerning women, for verily you have taken them on the security of Allah and have made their persons lawful unto you by words of Allah.

O’ people! Allah, the Mighty and Exalted, has ordained to every one his due share (of inheritance). Hence there is no need (of special) testament for an heir (departing from the rules laid down by the Shari’ah).

The child belongs to the marriage-bed and the violator of wedlock shall be stoned. And Reckoning of their (deeds) rests with Allah.

He who attributes his ancestry to other than his father or claims his clientship to other than his master, the curse of Allah is upon him.

All depts must be repaid, all borrowed property must be returned, gifts should be reciprocated and a surety must make good the loss to the assured.

Beware! No one committing a crime is responsible for it but himself. Neither the child is responsible for the crime of his father, nor the father is responsible for the crime of his child.

Nothing of his brother is lawful for a Muslim except what he himself gives willingly. So do not wrong yourselves.

O’ People! Every Muslim is the brother of every other Muslim, and all the Muslims form one brotherhood. And your slaves; see that you feed them with such food as you eat yourselves, and clothe them with the clothes that you yourselves wear.

Take heed not to go astray after me and strike one another’s necks. He who (amongst you) has any trust with him, he must return it to its owner.

O’ people! Listen and obey, though a mangled Abyssinian slave is appointed your Amir, provided he executes (the Ordinance of) the Book of Allah among you.

O’ people! No Prophet would be raised after me and no new Ummah (would be formed) after you.

Verily I have left amongst you that which will never lead you astray, the Book of Allah, which if you hold fast you shall never go astray.

And beware of transgressing the limits set in the matters of religion, for it is transgression of (the proper bounds of) religion that brought destruction to many people before you.

Verily, the satan is disappointed at ever being worshipped in this land of yours, but he will be pleased by obedience in anything (short of worship that is) in matters you may be disposed to think insignificant, so beware of him in your matters of religion.

Behold! Worship your Lord; offer prayers five times a day; observe fast in the month of Ramadan Kareem; pay readily the Zakat (poor due) on your property; and perform pilgrimage to the House of God and obey your rulers and you will be admitted to the Paradise of your Lord.

Let him that is present, convey it unto him who is absent, for many people to whom the message is conveyed may be more mindful of it than the audience.

And if you were asked about me, what would you say?"

They answered, "We bear witness that you have conveyed the trust (of religion) and discharged your ministry of Prophethood and looked to our welfare."

It is but a mesmerizing connection, that the same religion has been in stew since the time of Prophet Adam Alaihe Salaam. If were to explain Islam to a non Muslim, it'd be easiest to put it this way, Islam has been perfected, all doubts and uncertainties have been clarified, all rights and rituals have been detailed and one point has been reiterated before any other, Tauheed... The Oneness of Allah Almighty! It has been the focus of ibadah for all Prophets of hundreds, thousands of years. We are blessed, to be the Ummati, let us remember all that we have been taught... and let us act upon that which we have been given by our Beloved Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam.

The Firefly Girl

Varah Musavvir, a graduate from the batch of 2011 (Textile Design) currently heads the gifts and greetings company, Firefly. Under it she operates The Crafter's Guild which is home to Pakistan’s largest craft fair, The Crafter’s Expo. She serves as Director for Commune Artist Colony and likes to spend her time training, mentoring and working with crafters and artisans. She also currently serves as Prima Marketing, Inc’s first art educator for Pakistan. Across her journey, Varah has and continues to volunteer her time to various organizations. While engaging in art and craft, she works toward making a difference in the lives of young women and children in an effort to reshaping the way the world looks at Pakistan, one step at a time. Varah has worked with over 500 crafters across Pakistan, and has herself conducted several craft based workshops over the years.
She is passionate about paper crafting and creating whimsy pieces as a form of expression. With a love for the stars, the sea, and thundershowers, she writes, and spends a lot of her time advocating fairy dust and rainbows rule the world.